Add §§75-m & 111-d, Dom Rel L; add §§643 & 658, Fam Ct Act; add §393, Soc Serv L
 
Prohibits the making of decisions concerning guardianship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; prohibits the department of social services from denying, deciding or opposing a petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation solely because the petitioner is blind and prohibits the department of social services from taking actions solely because a parent, custodian or guardian is blind.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1721
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 16, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, COLTON, CRESPO, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, MOSLEY,
L. ROSENTHAL, BENEDETTO, BLAKE, ORTIZ, WEPRIN, LUPARDO, QUART, JAFFEE,
GOODELL, D'URSO, TITUS, JOHNS, ZEBROWSKI, LAWRENCE, MONTESANO, STECK,
ABINANTI, M. L. MILLER, HYNDMAN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
ARROYO, BLANKENBUSH, COOK, CROUCH, HEVESI, MALLIOTAKIS, McDONOUGH,
PRETLOW, SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judi-
ciary
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in
relation to prohibiting the making of decisions concerning guardian-
ship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis
of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; and to amend the
social services law, in relation to prohibiting the department of
social services from denying, deciding or opposing a petition or
request for guardianship, custody or visitation solely because the
petitioner is blind and to prohibiting a local social services agency
from taking actions solely because a parent, custodian or guardian is
blind
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "blind
2 persons right to parent act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds the following:
4 a. All blind Americans have the right to found a family, to freely and
5 responsibly decide on the number and spacing of their children, and to
6 retain the custody of their offspring on an equal basis with others.
7 This right to parent is rooted in the due process clause of the Four-
8 teenth Amendment; however, blind people are often stripped of these
9 constitutional rights when state statutes, judicial decisions, and child
10 welfare practices are based on the presumption that blindness automat-
11 ically means parental incompetence.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01687-01-9
A. 1721 2
1 b. The presumption that blindness automatically means parental incom-
2 petence is a misconception. Given the proper tools and education, blind-
3 ness can be reduced to a physical nuisance. Because many sighted people
4 do not understand the techniques that blind people use to accomplish
5 everyday tasks, sighted judges, social workers, and state official
6 assume that those tasks cannot be completed by a blind person. Using
7 alternative techniques, blind people are capable of living independent,
8 productive lives, which include providing safe and loving homes for
9 their children. For example, blind people put small tactile dots over
10 markers on stoves, washing machines, and other flat surfaces so that
11 they can independently operate those devices. Specific to raising chil-
12 dren, blind parents may have their young children wear a small bell on
13 their shoes so the child's location can be known to the parents. Blind
14 parents will also pull a stroller behind them rather than push the
15 stroller in front of them so their long white cane or guide dog will
16 find obstacles or enter an intersection before the child and stroller.
17 c. When sighted parents are involved in a guardianship, custody or
18 visitation proceeding, their parental capabilities and how those capa-
19 bilities affect the best interest of the child are thoroughly evaluated
20 through a careful review of evidence. Too often, however, judges summar-
21 ily dismiss a blind parent's capabilities under the misconception that
22 blind people are incapable of most anything, despite evidence on record
23 proving otherwise. Blind parents involved in these proceedings must
24 first overcome any bias or low expectations of the judge, and then also
25 provide evidence negating those misconceptions above and beyond the
26 normal burden placed on sighted parents.
27 d. Widespread misconceptions about blindness often trigger a state
28 agency to act, unsolicited, against the wishes of a blind parent. One of
29 many countless, devastating reports of discrimination occurred in 2010,
30 when the state of Missouri wrongfully deemed a blind couple unable to
31 care for their 2-day old daughter, who remained in protective custody
32 until the family was reunited after a 57-day battle. These parents had
33 done nothing to demonstrate parental incompetence other than happening
34 to have had a child and been blind, and yet the agency solely considered
35 their blindness and decided to take action. In fact, the Missouri case
36 and many others, the parents had voluntarily contacted social service
37 officials themselves in order to seek advice and assistance and to
38 ensure that all of their child's needs were being met, but instead found
39 themselves stripped of custody. Thus, hasty actions on the part of state
40 social welfare officials can discourage blind parents from seeking
41 services and assistance for which they and their children are eligible.
42 e. During custody proceedings in cases of divorce, where one parent is
43 blind and the other is sighted, the sighted parent will often try to use
44 the other parent's blindness as a tool to deny the blind parent custo-
45 dial rights. Because custody proceedings related to a divorce are often
46 hostile, the court should demand that each party demonstrate evidence of
47 the other party's incompetence. However, courts often assume that the
48 sighted party is accurate in portraying the blind parent as incompetent,
49 and make custody and visitation decisions based solely on the fact that
50 one parent is blind. These decisions can range from limiting or denying
51 visitation unless a sighted person is present at all times to simply
52 denying the blind parent all custodial rights. This is not only discri-
53 minatory; it denies the blind parent a fair chance at custody and opens
54 courts to manipulation.
55 § 3. The domestic relations law is amended by adding a new section
56 75-m to read as follows:
A. 1721 3
1 § 75-m. Consideration of blindness during guardianship, custody or
2 visitation proceedings. 1. The court may not deny or decide a petition
3 for guardianship, custody or visitation solely on the basis that the
4 petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner shall be considered
5 relevant only to the extent that the court finds, based on evidence in
6 the record, that the blindness affects the best interests of the child
7 whose guardianship, custody or visitation is the subject of the peti-
8 tion.
9 2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
10 a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
11 b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
12 the best corrected eye.
13 § 4. The domestic relations law is amended by adding a new section
14 111-d to read as follows:
15 § 111-d. Consideration of blindness during adoption proceedings. 1.
16 The court may not deny or decide a petition for adoption solely on the
17 basis that the petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner
18 shall be considered relevant only to the extent that the court finds,
19 based on evidence in the record, that the blindness affects the best
20 interests of the child whose adoption is the subject of the petition.
21 2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
22 a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
23 b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
24 the best corrected eye.
25 § 5. The family court act is amended by adding a new section 643 to
26 read as follows:
27 § 643. Consideration of blindness during adoption proceedings. 1. The
28 court may not deny or decide a petition for adoption solely on the basis
29 that the petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner shall be
30 considered relevant only to the extent that the court finds, based on
31 evidence in the record, that the blindness affects the best interests of
32 the child whose adoption is the subject of the petition.
33 2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
34 a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
35 b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
36 the best corrected eye.
37 § 6. The family court act is amended by adding a new section 658 to
38 read as follows:
39 § 658. Consideration of blindness during guardianship, custody or
40 visitation proceedings. 1. The court may not deny or decide a petition
41 for custody or visitation under this part or guardianship under part
42 four of this article solely on the basis that the petitioner is blind.
43 The blindness of the petitioner shall be considered relevant only to the
44 extent that the court finds, based on evidence in the record, that the
45 blindness affects the best interests of the child whose guardianship,
46 custody or visitation is the subject of the petition.
47 2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
48 a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
49 b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
50 the best corrected eye.
51 § 7. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 393 to
52 read as follows:
53 § 393. Consideration of blindness during guardianship, custody or
54 adoption proceedings. 1. The department may not deny, decide or oppose a
55 petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation under this
56 article solely on the basis that the petitioner, parent, guardian or
A. 1721 4
1 custodian is blind. The blindness of the petitioner, parent, guardian or
2 custodian shall be considered relevant only to the extent that the
3 blindness affects the best interests of the child whose guardianship,
4 custody or visitation is the subject of the petition.
5 2. The department shall not seek custody or guardianship of a child
6 solely because the child's parent, guardian or custodian is blind. The
7 blindness of the parent, guardian or custodian shall be considered rele-
8 vant only to the extent that the blindness affects the best interests of
9 the child whose guardianship, custody or visitation is the subject of
10 the petition.
11 3. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
12 a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
13 b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
14 the best corrected eye.
15 § 8. The commissioner of social services is authorized and directed to
16 promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of the
17 provisions of this act on or before its effective date.
18 § 9. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
19 have become a law.